Job Description
About the Position
As the Head of Advocacy, you will be at the heart of our mission, leading bold, forward-looking efforts that shape how the Internet evolves and is governed. This is your opportunity to influence policies and decisions that impact billions of people and to protect the future of the Internet itself.
You will lead ISOC’s global advocacy portfolio, driving strategic influence across governments, intergovernmental bodies, commercial entities, courts, and communities. From engaging at the United Nations to building grassroots movements in underserved regions, your leadership will help ensure the Internet remains a powerful force for good in society.
As a key member of ISOC’s leadership team, the Portfolio Head of Advocacy is responsible for leading a high-performing team and a complex cross-organizational global portfolio aligned with our 2030 strategy. You will oversee and evolve our approach to advocacy across ISOC, the Internet Society Foundation and our community, and will serve as a strategic partner to all ISOC programs and Strategic Communications. You will ensure that all our advocacy efforts are mission-aligned, globally impactful, and strategically focused on:
- Expanding affordable, reliable Internet access
- Promoting trust, safety, and user protections online
- Defending the foundational principles of an open Internet
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
1) Lead Global Advocacy with Vision and Impact
- Set and drive ISOC’s global advocacy strategy, ensuring a coherent and influential presence in:
- Intergovernmental organizations (e.g. UN)
- National and regional governments shaping Internet policy
- Judicial forums through strategic litigation (e.g. Amicus program)
- Commercial platforms and Internet-facing industries
- Community-led advocacy initiatives around the world
- Act as a primary public voice and advocacy thought leader for ISOC, representing the organization in high-level forums and media to shape the global narrative on Internet governance, and Internet policy issues related to security, safety and access.
- Serve as the principal advisor to the CEO on advocacy content, strategy, political context, and policy opportunities, and create opportunities for high-level advocacy by ISOC leadership.
- Mobilize ISOC’s community and partners to become effective advocates through tools, partnerships, and direct engagement.
- Proactively oppose policies and practices that harm Internet access, freedom, and openness, and advocate for those that enable connectivity, affordable access, interoperability and trust.
- Strengthen the voice and influence of the technical community in global Internet governance and Internet policy development.
2) Portfolio & Program Leadership
- Lead end-to-end design, delivery, and performance of the Advocacy portfolio initiatives, serving as a horizontal enabler for advocacy activities across the entire organization and our community.
- Manage complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives across regions, technology, and policy domains.
- Oversee the alignment of program leaders and managers, subject-matter experts, comms professionals, and external consultants.
- Cultivate a culture of excellence, collaboration, and purpose across your team.
3) Strategic Execution & Organizational Influence
- Translate board-level strategy into measurable advocacy programs.
- Lead annual portfolio planning and resource allocation to maximize mission-aligned impact.
- Collaborate with other Portfolio Leads to identify and execute advocacy opportunities within their respective workstreams (e.g., Community Connectivity, Internet Resilience, Safer Internet, Internet Measurement).
- Actively shape ISOC’s broader organizational strategy, performance management, and governance as part of the leadership team.
4) People Leadership
- Build and mentor a high-performing, globally distributed team.
- Create a culture of inclusion, ownership, and accountability.
- Ensure the team is both delivering on current goals and developing capacity for long-term impact.
5) External Engagement & Representation
- Represent ISOC in high-level meetings with governments, donors, tech leaders, and civil society.
- Build and sustain a high public profile as a credible, visible advocacy thought leader on Internet policy, governance, and digital rights.
- Build influential partnerships and coalitions that amplify ISOC’s voice and reach.
6) Executive Responsibility
- Serve as ISOC’s executive leader for all global advocacy and Internet policy-related initiatives.
- Achievement of advocacy goals and measurable policy outcomes.
- Ensure strong financial, reputational, and operational stewardship of the portfolio.
- Monitor KPIs, risks, and learning across advocacy initiatives and report key insights to executive leadership.
Desired Qualifications
- 10+ years of progressive experience in public policy, advocacy, or government relations, preferably in the nonprofit or international sector.
- Experience managing teams and coordinating across complex, global organizations.
- Demonstrated success in shaping and delivering Internet policy outcomes through advocacy.
- Experience leading global, complex programs or portfolios with multi-sectoral impact.
- Deep familiarity with international institutions, legislative processes, and/or multistakeholder governance.
- Strong team leadership in matrixed, distributed environments.
- Exceptional communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
- Master’s degree or equivalent experience strongly preferred.
- Ability to travel up to 30% internationally.
Preferred Experience & Attributes
- Mission-driven - You believe the Internet is a force for good, and you’re ready to defend it.
- Politically savvy - You understand complex global policy dynamics and how to navigate them.
- Collaborative - You build trust across cultures, sectors, and communities.
- Strategic - You see the big picture and know how to move from strategy to impact.
- Empowering - You lead through others, building capacity and unlocking talent.
- Comfort with remote-first work and asynchronous collaboration.
- Flexibility to work across time zones.
- Commitment to ISOC’s mission, vision, and values.
About the Organization
About the Internet Society
The Internet Society (ISOC) supports and promotes the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people’s lives, and a force for good in society. Our work aligns with our goals for the Internet to be open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy. We seek collaboration with all who share these goals.
Together, we focus on building and supporting the communities that make the Internet work; advancing the development and application of Internet infrastructure, technologies, and open standards; and advocating for policy that is consistent with our view of the Internet.
